Improvement on rice plant regeneration system from an embryogenic callus using two Malaysian indica rice MR 219 and MR 232 was developed in this study. Different stages of rice explants (zygotic embryos) were tested for callus induction and regeneration using various carbon sources and amino acids. The present study shows that dough stage of zygotic embryos was the best stage of explants for the embryogenic callus induction and regeneration of both rice cultivars. The embryogenic callus nature with the compact structure was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Inclusion of maltose at the concentration between 10 and 20 mg/L shown higher responsive for the development of green somatic embryos and initiation of rice regeneration with an average of 29-37 (87-91%) regenerated plantlets, respectively. All in vitro regenerated rice plantlets were green, morphological and physiologically healthy condition. Rice plantlets were hardened in acclimatization room for 3 weeks and later transferred into soil with 95% survival in both varieties were recorded. Hence, regeneration system from zygotic rice embryos via somatic embryogenesis system was carried out successfully by using 10 g/L of maltose and combinations of glutamine, asparagine and arginine amino acids.

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The present study describes a direct shoot regeneration-based micropropagation procedure for Vanilla planifolia. Two types of explant (i.e. shoot apex and stem nodal segment) were screened for their shoot induction potential following a three-month treatment with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and -Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Results indicated that the shoot apices were poor candidates for shoot induction whereas the stem nodal segments showed potential for shoot initiation at a rate of up to 6 shoots/explant. Stem nodal segments were the most responsive as shoots formed (55 shoots) directly following treatments with 1 mg/L BAP at half strength MS medium after the third subculture. In addition, more shoots were produced on solid medium treatments compared to the liquid medium treatments in two strengths of mediums tested. Regenerated plantlets derived from the 1 mg/L of BAP treatment were induced to root following a one month culture in growth regulator-free MS medium. There was 90% survival rate of the rooted plantlets after acclimatization in the greenhouse. The findings in the present study would be helpful for large-scale mass propagation of Vanilla planifolia using this simple and efficient protocol.

ABSTRACT. This study was directed at the understanding of the function of CCoAOMT isolated from Acacia auriculiformis x Acacia mangium. Full length cDNA of the Acacia hybrid CCoAOMT (AhCCoAOMT) was 1024-bp long, containing 750-bp coding regions, with one major open reading frame of 249 amino acids. On the other hand, full length genomic sequence of the CCoAOMT (AhgflCCoAOMT) was 2548 bp long, containing three introns and four exons with a 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) of 391 bp in length. The 5'UTR of the characterized CCoAOMT gene contains various regulatory elements. Southern analysis revealed that the Acacia hybrid has more than three copies of the CCoAOMT gene. Real-time PCR showed that this gene was expressed in root, inner bark, leaf, flower and seed pod of the Acacia hybrid. Downregulation of the homologous CCoAOMT gene in tobacco by antisense (AS) and intron-containing hairpin (IHP) constructs containing partial AhCCoAOMT led to reduction in lignin content. Expression of the CCoAOMT in AS line (pART-HAS78-03) and IHP line (pART-HIHP78-06) was reduced respectively by 37 and 75% compared to the control, resulting in a decrease in the estimated lignin content by 24 and 56%, respectively. AhCCoAOMT was found to have altered not only S and G units but also total lignin content, which is of economic value to the pulp industry. Subsequent polymorphism analysis of this gene across eight different genetic backgrounds each of A. mangium and A. auriculiformis revealed 47 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in A. auriculiformis CCoAOMT and 30 SNPs in A. mangium CCoAOMT.

Preliminary steps in the genetic transformation of indica rice MR219 was investigated in the plant-Agrobacterium tumefaciens interaction. Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404 carrying a binary vector pCAMBIA 1305.2 harboring the modified GUS gene driven by the CaMV 35S promoter was used. Various transformation parameters influences were optimized using embryogenic calli via βglucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter marker. Various transformation parameters were optimized including bacterial concentration, age of embryogenic callus, pre-culture period, wounding technique, cocultivation period, immersion time and dry time before co-cultivation, acetosyringone (AS) concentration, pH of co-cultivation media and temperature of the co-cultivation period. The expression of the transient gusA gene in the plant genome was preliminary confirmed by histochemical GUS assay activity (as blue spots). The results from transient gusA gene expression of calli suggested that the Agrobacterium-mediated transfer system of T-DNA in indica rice MR219 was highly efficient. Therefore, the investigation of factors that influence T-DNA delivery is an important first step in the utilization of Agrobacterium in the transformation of indica rice MR219 calli.